New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and US Senator Cory Booker are calling on President Trump’s transportation secretary to visit Northeast Corridor railways to highlight the need for infrastructural upgrades across the region. WBGO’s Ang Santos reports.

Funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project could be compromised under President Trump’s proposed federal budget.

Credit Ang Santos / WBGO

Senator Cory Booker wants a commitment from the Trump Administration to support federal funding for improvements to railways between New York and New Jersey. Funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project could be compromised under President Trump’s proposed federal budget.

“The new administration has to come to the table with a commitment to what is not just a New Jersey problem, not just a regional problem, but really an American problem. The most economically productive region in America and the most economically productive nation on the planet Earth is in a state of transportation crisis,” Booker said.

Governor Christie says he supports the current plan to build new Hudson River Rail Tunnels.

Transit lines along the Northeast Corridor have seen major delays through two derailments and a Hudson River Rail Tunnel power outage over the last few weeks.

Credit Ang Santos / WBGO

“This is the only profitable line that Amtrak has in the country, the Northeast Corridor, and to not invest in the only line that is profitable is bad business even for government,” Christie said.

Governor Chris Christie shut down a Hudson River rail tunnel project several years back that could have been nearing completion now. But Senator Cory Booker says, now is not the time to dwell on the past.

“I don’t want to keep revisiting history. I want to talk about where we are right now.”

Transit lines along the Northeast Corridor have seen major delays through two derailments and a Hudson River Rail Tunnel power outage over the last few weeks.